Common Law (Unitary Jurisdiction)
New Zealand operates a unitary legal system governed by a single national court hierarchy - no state or provincial divisions. Our New Zealand legal matter plans cover civil litigation (District Court Rules 2014, High Court Rules 2016), family law (Family Violence Act 2018, Care of Children Act 2004), employment disputes (Employment Relations Act 2000, Health and Safety at Work Act 2015), property conveyancing (Land Transfer Act 2017, Residential Tenancies Act 1986), criminal defence (Criminal Procedure Act 2011, Bail Act 2000), wills and estates (Administration Act 1969, Wills Act 2007, Family Protection Act 1955), corporate insolvency (Companies Act 1993, Insolvency Act 2006), accident compensation (Accident Compensation Act 2001), commercial law, and construction adjudication (Construction Contracts Act 2002), providing practitioners with structured, practitioner-grade workflow checklists aligned to each court and tribunal's procedural requirements.
The Open Matter Plans Network gives New Zealand legal practitioners 103 free, practitioner-grade matter plan templates spanning 10 practice areas. Each plan is a structured checklist that walks your team through every stage of a matter - from initial instructions to file closure - with estimated time units, key dates, and role assignments built in. Use them directly or export to CSV for your practice management system.
Every plan in the New Zealand library is maintained by verified legal practitioners and aligned to the SALI Alliance Legal Matter Standard Specification, making them compatible with legal AI workflows and PMS integrations. Plans are community-reviewed, version-controlled, and updated when legislation or court rules change - so you can trust they reflect current New Zealand procedural requirements.
Browse the full plan library above to find the matter type your practice needs. Alongside 32 master plans, the library includes 71 specialist derivative plans covering specific party roles and procedural variants.
What New Zealand legal matter plan templates are available?
The Open Matter Plans Network provides 103 free New Zealand legal matter plan templates across 10 practice areas. Areas covered include Family Law, Civil Litigation, Employment Law, and more. Each plan is a structured, step-by-step checklist aligned to New Zealand's court rules and SALI taxonomy.
Are the New Zealand legal matter plans free to use?
Yes. All New Zealand legal matter plans on the Open Matter Plans Network are free to access and use. Plans can be browsed online, exported to CSV, or accessed via the JSON API for direct integration with your practice management system.
How are New Zealand matter plans structured?
Each New Zealand matter plan contains multiple stages (e.g., instructions, investigation, preparation, finalisation), with individual tasks under each stage. Tasks include estimated time units, role assignments, and key date fields - giving you a complete workflow from first instruction through to matter closure.
When a practice-management system opens a matter at this level, these are the canonical fields it receives - resolved through the field-set hierarchy (base → area of law → geography → plan). Fields added at this levelare shown below, with inherited tiers beneath; each set's page has the full resolved table. How this works.
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